This is the first time we've been in something like this and it feels like we haven't done someting that we need to do. My husband was driving my car today (I worked from home) and went with 2 of his co-workers to get lunch. On the way back they were going about 40 in a 45 zone. They were halfway through a intersection (their green light) when a big huge van pulled out right in front of them, making a left turn. My husband tried to turn left to avoid the hit but there was nothing he could do. The result was a head-on at close to 30 mph.

DH is OK. He has cuts on his head from where the airbags pushed his glasses into his skin. He has a bruise/abrasion on his neck from the seatbelt, and a pretty dark purple bruise on his collarbone, plus scrapes all across his stomach, presumably also from the seatbelt. His arm is burned/blistered from the heat of the airbag deploying. There are also miscellaneous cuts & punctures, probably from the pieces of the console dislodged when the AB deployed. The top of his hand is VERY bruised, so much that his fingers are even discolored, and it's swollen about twice normal size. The underside of his arm has big areas where the friction with the airbag peeled the skin off. Both knees are scraped & bruised. Nothing broken, lucky there, and it def. could have been worse. He refused treatment at the scene because he was so worried about his passengers, esp. the one who couldn't walk, but when I got to the scene & the tow truck took my car away I made DH go to the ER. Misc damage - his glasses are broken from being shoved up into his head, and his cell phone was also broken - something actually penetrated the metal casing on the back and is lodged through the keypad on the other side. I had someone's fragile birthday present in the truck & it's shattered all over, and there's an entire case worth of Protein drinks spilled into my trunk. *sigh*

Of DH's two passengers, one is sore but OK, the other had to go to the hospital from the scene & ended up having torn ligaments in his neck. He was discharged & is back at home.

The guy who turned in front of them had a (likely) broken arm, but was able to walk and got out as soon as it happened to ask DH & the others with him if they were OK.

My car, which we'd just paid off early about 6 months ago is likely totalled. That's per the tow truck driver, anyway, and unofficially from the collision center it was towed to. The front end is completely smashed, and the engine is bulging through the console. The quarter panels are pushed back into the doors. The interior leather is torn from various things puncturing it, the guys' pants making friction tears, etc. The console is of course blown from the airbags... windshied smashed... the entire front end of the car was in a space about a foot deep. The radiator (what was left of it) had penetrated the engine so it was 100% undriveable.

I called the police station to see if I could get a copy of the police report and they said it would take 2+ days. I called back to see if we could find out of a ticket/citation had been issued to the other driver (we're trying to ensure the other driver is officially "at fault", since our insurance co has asked us about 6 times and the best my husband can say is, "unofficially") and they said they couldn't release that info. The policemen on site talked to the other driver, then gave my husband a piece of paper with the police officer's badge info, and some info on the other driver... ins co, name, home number, license #, etc. Then asked DH to write down the same and gave it to the other guy, then they left without another word.

We've talked with our insurance agent, the collision center, and made sure we didn't have to file a separate claim with the DMV. What else should we do? It seems liike we've done everything, but at the same time it feels like we haven't done a thing.

What a day. :angry

It's hard not seeing this as me getting the short end of the stick b/c of his mistake, and that pretty much keeps any empathy at bay. :tired

I didn't mean to imply you shouldn't be upset and weren't suffering because of someone else's mistake. Believe me, I was mad when that semi hit me making an illegal U-turn--my car was only FOUR DAYS old! It was in December and my oldest son who was home for Xmas break didn't even get to see my new car because it was in the shop.

I just warned you about not taking the statement personally because--even tho I KNOW better-- I got so mad during the RECORDED questions that I told the (other party's) adjuster she was "really starting to piss me off." It's hard to understand what an emotional experience it is until you've been there. Honestly, I feel embarassed about my reaction now.

Three weeks later, when a girl behind me dropped her cell phone and plowed into my stopped car as she reached to get it, I couldn't stop LAUGHING because--thank the Lord--I was STILL in the rental car (26th day) and was so relieved that I hadn't gotten my car back yet. Instead of being mad at her I was like, "Thank you, THANK YOU for hitting me NOW and not next week!"

So three months later I go & rear-end someone. :huytsao

The older (and more experienced) I get the more life humbles me and encourages me to be as compassionate as possible. Without a doubt I will need it in the future.

Wheestin ~ How is your DH today? I suppose he is very sore. In my case, I got the worst after 2 or 3 days. I thought I was going downhill & called the doc. Sometimes it happens b/c your body actually comes down to reality.

Any word on the car yet? I bet you are just sick over that. There's only one way to replace a special order car. :phanvan

Take care & keep in touch!!

Hey all. No worries Kare, I didn't take your message that way at all. I was just talking out loud, so to speak. DH is a lot more sore today. The base of his neck and right between his shoulderblades has started hurting, and he's had a dull headache most of the day, and he rarely gets headaches. We're going in to see our family physician Friday for a follow-up. The blisters from where the airbag delpoyment burned his hand are bigger than yesterday. DH also sought out recommendations for an atty. We have his number but haven't called him yet. It's actually the guy with the neck injury's lawyer.

We "visited" my car at the collision center. It was quite sobering to see it again... my jaw just about hit the ground. We asked two of the guys there is they thought it could be repaired and they said, "Not for less than totalling it." They did say that Shelter has a reputation for listening to the owners' wishes if the money is close... and have been known to spend a little more to give the owner what they want. We'll see. We hit the dealership tonight to start looking, just in case.

It's good to hear from you. Glad to hear you DH is going to see his doc on Fri. I just feel so bad for all of you. :phanvan This is a trying time and there is lots of little (and big) things to do. I hope you do get your wishes on your car on way or another. It's natural to get attached to things like a car b/c it just "fits"....I understand your emotions on this. Take care and know we're here!!

Good grief! I'm so glad noone was seriously injured! Hope he's not too sore tomorrow.

Here are some pics we took today. It looks worse in person, but you can see how far back everything under the hood was pushed, because they essentially went "under" the van. Look where the bumper was, and look how far back the engine area is "empty" -- that's because everything is crammed up into the last foot or so. DH learned today that the EMS who responded told my husband's shotgun passenger that if they'd been in a different car, there's a good chance the engine would have been pushed through the console and crushed the two front passengers.

And here's a pic of DH"s bad hand next to his good one. This is the *better* looking side of his arm, the underside is much worse off. You can see the burns, the bruising, swelling, and where something pushed against his wedding ring hard enough to not just dent the band, but cause it to actually cut into his finger.

Holy Crap!. Where's that "jaw dropping" smilie? I'm sitting here shaking my head in amazement. Be grateful for every penny spent on that Volvo. It saved his life! He'd have had a lap full of engine were he not in that car. Unbelievable.

And ouch!!! on his hand. Geez. Give hubby lots of TLC. It will take a while to get past all this, but you two are making it! Take it easy and keep us psoted on the saga. :bananadoggywow:

Hang in there, Wheetsin. We are thinkin' of you!!!!!

Wow.

No matter what it cost, I'm so glad you got that custom Volvo!

I'm so glad your DH & friends weren't in a smaller car (like mine!).

I waited about two weeks for my car model to become available with side as well as front airbags. But if I had to do it over I'd get a bigger car and as soon as I can absorb the loss I will.

Wheetsin, would you mind if I save a copy of your damaged car? I've been thinking about making a gallery of accidents for our website. Yours would be fist place so far. I'll have to dig out the pic of what my older son did to my mom's Lincoln (total) it was impressive because he hydroplaned into a side frwy rail in the rain and besides the twisted metal it is COVERED with MUD.

No, go ahead. If you'd like, I can PM you the link to some higher resolution images, we took the actual pictures at 6MB quality so they could be enlarged for detail if needed. My hubby has posted them to an online album.

OMG - I cannot even begin to thing about a crash like that.. Though that car is little it sure did hold him well considering the force.. Poor Guy

Your car did exactly what it was designed to do. It crushed and saved the passengers. I worry when I see all these teensy little bitty cars out there. Great mileage, but will they save your life?

Here's a site that will give you good info about safe cars. It's a really good place to help you see how the car you're thinking of did in important crash tests.

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/ncap/pages/ResourcesLinksBSC.htm

Wheetsin - you and DH are in my thoughts.

I was wondering if anybody here has seen the new VW commercials. There are a few versions, but basically, it's a couple of friends riding around in a car. Then, out of no where, they get into a horrible accident. The commercials are so graphic, and they give me the creeps every time they come on.

I've been in a bad accident myself, and I hate to relive it every night in prime time. I wrote a letter to VW's advertising department about this horrible campaign, but I haven't received a response. I see these commercials all the time! I can't imagine what value they have other than pure terror. I can't imagine that anyone who has ever been in a car accident would have made this up.

My accident was over seven years ago, but almost every time I close my eyes or pause for a moment, I have visions of crashing into another car. Anyway, sorry to hijack, I hope you both are doing well.

I think I saw one of those commercials the other night. It was two couples coming back from a movie, talking about whether or not one of the guys was crying while watching it, and *boom*. I've had small accidents, but nothing like this. That's how my husband described it. "We were talking about <whatever>, I saw the car but figured he'd stop, then I realized he wasn't going to and everything went into slow-motion, and next thing I know the car is full of white smoke (from the airbags).

What's scarier is that the S-60s really aren't particularly small cars, they're mid sized. I'd hate to see what it would look like if he was in anything smaller. I could never drive something like a mini or a bug. I just wouldn't feel safe at all.

DH waned to talk a little bit ago. He's going through the "second guessing myself" phase.

This was our second Volvo and this incident just reaffirmed my respect for their safety features. We've started looking at the dealership, so we're somewhat prepared if they do total my car out. We know we're getting another Volvo, and probably bumping up to the XC-90 (SUV). As much as they're not a great choice ecologically, DAMN they feel safe to drive.

BTW - the other driver has offically admitted all fault - we picked up & read the police report today. Apparently he started to turn, saw DH, thought he still had time, then thought maybe he didn't and stopped, then thought he could make it and started going again -- and by that time it was too late to make the turn. He filed a claim with his insurance co, but failed to give them any info other than my husband's name (even though he had contact info) and told them that my husband was alone in the car, even though he rode int he same ambulance as DH's passenger AND knew he was his passenger b/c he kept apologizing to DH's passenger for hitting their car, AND asked DH's passenger if he know how badly DH or the 3rd passenger were hurt. Since we hadn't heard anything I called his ins co this afternoon and they were very surprised, and not overjoyed, when I told them the "real" story about what happened.

Kare, how long might we expect it to take for the adjusters to do their job and make a determination on fix/total? Is there an average turnaround time for such a decision?

I would imagine it really varies. If it was a 3-day weekend, raining or something else going on that would generate more accidents it will take longer, assuming none of those factors are present my experience would be 5-10 days. When my son's car was totalled we got the payoff offer at about the 8th day. We knew it was totalled before that because that was the mechanic's opinion.

Not sure how this works among companies, but with Mercury when there is a total it goes to a whole different department for them to determine the payoff amount. As I told you I was very happy with the amt Mercury paid us (they even paid the sales tax since my son had had the car less than a year). What I was NOT happy with was how LONG it took for them to send us a check. Based on my clients' experiences--barring any snafus--it takes about 3 weeks to get a check. For some reason it took TWO MONTHS for our check to come. I didn't call and ask about this sooner because I was trying my best not to be an impatient & demanding claiment.

Even tho it was the other party's fault in my son's accident I went thru my insurance because I'm not impressed with the company that the other person is with (won't name them). If he had been hit by someone who was with State Farm I probably would have gone thru them directly because of their good service reputation.

Hopefully you took your lienholder off the policy and off your registration when you paid them off. This sometimes complicates matters. If it's a total you will need to sign & mail the pink slip to the insurer. Be sure to send this certified mail. And keep a copy of everything you sign and send back as well as the date you sent it.

That is just strange that the guy would lie about the number of people injured. It's not like it wouldn't be a matter of record. Of course his company would find out the facts. I can't imagine why he would do that.

Hopefully he has plenty of BI/PD coverage.